Zublasing Named Athlete of the Week

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Following her distinction as the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Shooter and Senior Shooter of the Year, as well as winning the 2013 GARC smallbore title over the weekend, West Virginia senior Petra Zublasing has been named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week.

The Appiano, Italy, native set her second WVU smallbore record in three weeks and won the discipline title with a 595 (199 prone, 199 standing, 197 kneeling) score in the open relay and a 101.4 in the final for a 696.4 marc on Feb. 23. She is the fourth different Mountaineer to win the GARC smallbore title.

Zublasing returned to the range on Feb. 24 and finished second in the air rifle relay with a championship-best 597 in the open relay and a 103.5 in the final for a 700.5 score. She finished first overall with a two-day total of 1192.

Zublasing helped the No. 1-ranked rifle team shoot a two-day total of 4705 for the team’s fourth straight GARC Championship title at Mississippi’s Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Reediness Center, in Oxford, Miss.

The Mountaineers will compete at the 2013 NCAA Championships, hosted by Ohio State on March 8-9, at Converse Hall and French Field House, in Columbus, Ohio.

Women’s Basketball-This Week in Women’s BasketballThe West Virginia women’s basketball team will play its final two home games of the season this week, starting with a 7 p.m. tip with Kansas State on Tuesday and closing out the week with a 7 p.m., game against the defending national champion Baylor on Saturday at the WVU Coliseum … Saturday’s game will air live on ROOT Sports, broadcasted by Fox Sports Net … Saturday will also be a night to recognize senior Ayana Dunning in her final game as a Mountaineer in the Coliseum.

-Last Week in Women’s BasketballThe Mountaineers defeated TCU 66-56 to sweep the season series on Saturday at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas … WVU’s junior guard Taylor Palmer led the way with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range … senior Ayana Dunning and freshman Bria Holmes also had scoring numbers in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively … Jess Harlee led WVU on the boards for the fifth time this season with nine rebounds, helping WVU to a 43-41 rebounding advantage over the Horned Frogs.

-Notes & QuotesWVU enters its final stretch of the regular season with two games at home and its final game at Texas on March 5, before heading to Dallas for the Big 12 Championship, March 8-11 … the Mountaineers are now 16-10 overall and 8-7 in the Big 12 Conference and are looking for a bid to the NCAA Tournament … three Mountaineers are scoring in double figures this season with Christal Caldwell averaging 12.9 points per game, and Taylor Palmer and Ayana Dunning each averaging 10.2 points per contest … Averee Fields rounds out the top four scorers for WVU with 8.3 points per game.

“I thought both teams came out and played hard,” coach Mike Carey said. “I thought we stood around a little bit in the first half. In the second half we came out, especially when we came off the bench with some players, and started moving a little bit better. At the end it was sloppy. We didn’t take care of the ball and let them get a few steals and get back in the game. Overall, I found out in the Big 12 just try to, by any means, get a win and go home.”

-Coach Mike Carey on WVU’s win over TCU

Track and Field -This Week in Track and FieldThe West Virginia University track and field team will travel to New York, N.Y., for the Columbia Last Chance meet on Mar. 1-2.

-Last Week in Track and FieldThe Mountaineers competed in their first ever Big 12 Indoor Championships and totaled 20.5 points for a 10th place finish … No. 5 Kansas won the meet with 150.5 points and edged out No. 13 Texas who came in second with 148 points … No. 12 Iowa State placed third with 142 points, while No. 25 Baylor and Oklahoma State rounded out the top five with 72 and 48 points, respectively.

-Notes & QuotesChené Townsend posted a personal-best time of 8.38 in the 60-meter hurdles prelims on Saturday for a fifth-place finish … Townsend took fifth in the finals on Sunday and gained four points for WVU … Kelly Williams placed fifth in the prelims on the mile on Saturday and returned on Sunday to take fourth in the finals with a time of 4:48.73 … the distance medley relay team of Willliams, Christa D’Egidio, Peyton Hampson and Sarah Martinelli were the highest finishers for WVU by placing third with a season-best time of 11:29.91 … Stormy Nesbit was the first Mountaineer to score with an eighth-place finish in the long jump with a personal-best leap of 5.92 meters … Nesbit’s mark also is tied for the fourth best jump in WVU program history … Heather Adams took 10th in the weight throw with a mark of 17.76 meters, which ranks No. 5 in program history … Adams now owns all five top-5 marks in the weight throw in program history.

Wrestling-This Week in WrestlingWVU (2-10, 0-3 Big 12) is idle.

-Last Week in WrestlingThe Mountaineers were defeated by No. 16 Edinboro on Saturday evening, 29-9, and on Sunday afternoon, the team rebounded with an 18-15 victory over Clarion.

-Notes & QuotesPhil Mandzik powered the way to the victory on Sunday, as he defeated Phil Catrucco, 5-1, in the 10th and final match of the dual meet … the win was Mandzik’s ninth of the season … also earning wins in Sunday’s match were Shane Young (125), Colin Johnston (133), Ross Renzi (165), Bubba Scheffel (174) and Lance Bryson (184) … in Saturday’s match against the Fighting Scots, WVU received victories from Young, Scheffel and Jason Luster (157) … WVU’s victory on Sunday came without the services of team win leader Nathan Pennesi … Pennesi suffered a broken left third metacarpal two weeks ago, he should be ready for a return at the NCAA Championships.

Swimming and Diving-This Week in Swimming & DivingBoth teams will head to its first ever Big 12 Championships in Austin, Texas on Feb. 27-Mar. 2 at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

-Last Week in Swimming & DivingBoth teams were idle.

-Notes & QuotesTexas will host the Big 12 Championships for the seventh time in conference history … the championships field will consist of five institutions that sponsor women’s program: Iowa State, Kansas, TCU, Texas and West Virginia, along with three schools that have men’s teams: TCU, Texas and West Virginia … the Longhorns men’s squad has won the Big 12 Championship every year since the conference was formed in 1996, giving Texas 16 titles total … on the women’s side, Texas A&M took home the fourth title in program history last year.

Rifle-This Week in RifleThe West Virginia University rifle team is idle this week.

-Last Week in RifleThe No.1-ranked rifle team won their fourth straight Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship title on Feb. 23-24 at Mississippi’s Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center, in Oxford, Miss. … The team shot 2370 in air rifle and 2335 in smallbore for a two-day total of 4705 for the win in both disciplines and overall.

-Notes & QuotesSenior Petra Zublasing, 2013 GARC Shooter and Senior Shooter of the Year, won the smallbore discipline title on day one with 595(199 prone, 199 standing, 197 kneeling) in the open relay and 101.4 in the final for a 696.4 score … the Appiano, Italy, native is the fourth mountaineer to win the GARC smallbore title … sophomore Thomas Kyanko and freshman Garrett Spurgeon qualified for the smallbore final and finished fourth (684.4) and eight (677.6), respectively … Zublasing, Spurgeon, Kyanko, sophomores Maren Prediger, Taylor Ciotola and Meelis Kiisk all shot toward the team score on day one … Zublasing and Prediger finished second and third, respectively in air rifle with final scores of 700.5 and 699.7 … they both shot 597’s in the open relay with Zublasing shooting 103.5 in the final and Prediger shooting 102.7 … Kiisk qualified for the air rifle final with a 590 mark in the open relay and shot 101.0 in the final … Zublasing, Prediger, Kiisk, Ciotola and Spurgeon shot toward the day two score … Zublasing finished first overall with a two-day total of 1192.

Tennis-This Week in Women’s TennisWVU (1-6, 0-0 Big 12) competes against Virginia Tech in a neutral site contest held in Charleston, W.Va., at the Charleston Tennis Club on Saturday, March 2, at 11 a.m., and returns home for a match against Marquette on Sunday, March 3, at 11 a.m.

-Notes & QuotesSaturday’s match was WVU’s third straight against a ranked opponent, as they faced No. 47 William & Mary and No. 49 VCU two weeks ago … in singles play, Ikttesh Chahal and Vivian Tsui earned wins for the Mountaineers, while Audrey Wooland and Emily Mathis teamed up for a doubles victory … Mathis and Wooland own a 5-2 record in doubles, which leads the team … Mathis also leads the team in singles victories (4) and combined victories (9).

Gymnastics-This Week in GymnasticsThe No. 16-ranked Mountaineers stay at the WVU Coliseum and play host to No. 13 Denver, George Washington and Temple on Sunday, March 3, at 2 p.m.

-Last Week in GymnasticsThe Mountaineers (8-6, 1-1 Big 12) earned their third straight 196.0+ score at home with a season-best 196.55 point total in a second-place effort at the “Wendy M. Roach Invitational” Pink Meet on Feb. 24 … WVU finished first on the uneven bars with a 48.9 score … the squad scored season highs on vault (49.25), beam (49.075) and floor (49.325) and finished behind UM on each event … No. 3 Michigan placed first (196.925), while New Hampshire finished third (194.875) and Towson placed fourth (193.15) … senior Kaylyn Millick scored 39.35 and won her third straight all-around competition … junior Hope Sloanhoffer scored 39.1 and placed third … freshman Jaida Lawrence placed second on vault with a career-best 9.9 … Sloanhoffer paced the bars unit with a third place, 9.825 showing … sophomore Beth Deal anchored the beam rotation with a second place, 9.875 showing … the score was a season high … Millick won floor with a career-best 9.95, while senior Alaska Richardson scored 9.925, also a career best, and placed third.

-Notes & QuotesWVU’s score was its 10th-best in program history … only the 2004 WVU team scored three straight 196.0+ marks at the Coliseum … Millick is the first Mountaineer gymnast to score 9.95 or better on floor since 2004 … WVU tallied 16 scores of 9.8 or better … Millick has scored four consecutive point totals of 39.0+ … WVU falls to 1-6 against ranked teams this year, and 17-4 against the Wolverines … the Mountaineers improve to 27-9 and 18-10 against Towson and New Hampshire, respectively.

Baseball-This Week in BaseballWVU continues its 10-game road trip this weekend at the Caravelle Resort’s Baseball at the Beach tournament ... the Mountaineers will play Indiana on Friday, UMBC on Saturday and Florida Atlantic on Sunday.

-Last Week in BaseballThe Mountaineers played four games last weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C. ... WVU split games with Youngstown State and Wake Forest ... on Friday WVU fell to the Penguins 10-7, and then won on Saturday 7-3 ... on Saturday afternoon, WVU defeated the Demon Deacons 9-2 and then fell 11-3 on Sunday.

-Notes & QuotesIn Saturday’s win against Wake Forest, left-hander Harrison Musgrave dominated in only his second start since coming off Tommy John surgery … Murgrave went 8.0 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks … at the plate, Jacob Rice went 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI, while Brady Wilson knocked three hits with two runs and two RBIs, in total, six different Mountaineers recorded multi-hit games against the Demon Deacons … in its first game on Saturday against Youngstown State, John Means fired 5.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out three to earn his first win as a Mountaineer … reliever Corey Holmes picked up his first save at WVU, pitching 2.0 innings of one-hit baseball … Ryan McBroom had a three-run home run in the first inning to give WVU its first home run of the season … Rice, Wilson and Matt Frazer each had two hits, while seven different players crossed the plate against the Penguins.